The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has strongly opposed the decision by Northern governors to contribute N1billion monthly each towards the establishment of the Northern Nigeria Security Trust Fund (NNSTF).

Mr Luka Binniyat, the MBF spokesman, in a statement made available to DAILY POST in Kaduna on Tuesday, said: “The MBF position is that instead of creating another regional fund, each governor should use his state’s contribution to directly strengthen security in his home state.”

He added: “While we support the establishment of State Police and also appreciate every sincere effort aimed at ending terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes across the country, we strongly oppose the decision of Northern governors to commit huge monthly contributions into this fund.”

He noted that the Middle Belt had suffered the greatest human and material losses from the long years of violence across Northern Nigeria, saying that thousands of innocent men, women and children had been killed, hundreds of communities destroyed, millions of hectares of farmland abandoned, while countless families now live as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

“The painful truth is that throughout these years of bloodshed, the Northern States Governors’ Forum has rarely spoken with one voice to condemn the repeated massacres of Middle Belt communities,” the statement lamented.

The spokesman alleged that many victims had never received solidarity visits from the governors despite suffering some of the worst atrocities in Nigeria’s history. He further alleged that the MBF believed the NNSTF was a “well-crafted design” by the Sokoto Caliphate and Borno Sultanate to raise funds to be deployed to promote their interests and those of the terrorists the fund was intended to fight.

According to the statement: “As far as we are concerned there is no such thing as the Northern region. It was a vexatious, exploitative, suppressive and a backward creation of colonial rule which died in 1966 with the abolition of regional government.”

The forum maintained that the continued membership of Middle Belt states’ governors in the “Northern” States Governors Forum was unpopular, not recognised by any state law, and unacceptable to the majority of people in the Middle Belt.

He said: “The Middle Belt Forum will challenge the legality of withdrawing one billion naira monthly to the Funds. If each state is ready to contribute about one billion naira every month, that money should first be invested in empowering local communities to form First Lines of Defence, improved local intelligence, communication equipment, surveillance technology, emergency response systems working with approved security agencies.”

The forum advised that such funds should also be used to rebuild destroyed villages, rehabilitate schools and hospitals, compensate victims, and permanently resettle thousands of displaced families who have remained in camps or with relatives for many years.

The MBF explained that it was equally concerned that the funds could eventually be used to rehabilitate “repentant” terrorists and bandits while innocent victims continued to suffer without support. It stressed that the Middle Belt did not create the terrorist groups or armed gangs terrorising Northern Nigeria.

The statement explained: “Those who understand the roots of these criminal networks are in the core north. The governors of the Middle Belt should therefore form its own security network to tackle the genocide originating from the Sokoto-Borno caliphate.”

The MBF said lasting peace could not be achieved through money alone, arguing that justice, accountability, effective prosecution of criminals, and political will remained the foundations of lasting security.

“We therefore call on the governors of the Middle Belt states to stay out of these Funds. We call on our members in affected Middle Belt states to raise their voices and reject any contributions to the NNSTF.

“Let every state invest its resources directly in protecting its people, rebuilding destroyed communities, supporting victims of violence and restoring hope to citizens who have paid the highest price for insecurity,” the statement said.